Unova High Marching Champions
by brosexual
Summary: In which Black has something like asthma. (basic knowledge of marching band terms recommended). :marching band AU, isshushipping:


there is nothing better than marching band and isshushipping ok nothing  
i might make this a chaptered collection of unconnected oneshots/drabbles/whatevers like this, exerts from marching band idk?  
juniper is the band director, just to clear that up

* * *

It was hot. God, but it was fucking _hot_ and miserable for the entire band and of course Juniper wanted to run that set just_ one more time._

Black groaned in harmony with the rest of the band, harboring a deep loathing for the pit at times like this (because seriously, how was it fair that they got to sit over there in the shade and hit things with mallets while everyone else suffered? It wasn't, that's how).

"Water," someone called from the back, and was instantly echoed by a few of the other band members.

Cheren, being the oh so responsible section leader of the clarinets, turned his guilt inducing glare on them.

It indeed induced guilt in those who spoke up as they lowered their gazes.

"C'mon, you can't blame them." Now the guilt inducing glare was directed at Black, though it was significantly less intense because it was Black and Cheren secretly had A Thing for Black or something like that. "Cheren, really. Just because you worship marching band..."

"Silence yourself, Black."

The brunette grinned, nudging his friend with his shoulder as they parted ways to go back to the beginning of the show.

When he got to his spot (4 steps off the 50 yard line, back sideline), he shifted his quads and pulled out his drumsticks and got ready to play the _shit_ out of this opening (it was actually a pretty sweet part compared to the previous year's).

Juniper waved to the field commanders (Bianca and Skyla and a senior girl named Jesse), and they began their conducting (they still kinda sucked at it), and so the band ran the show. The Entire Show. All three parts.

Fifteen minutes and one dropping of drumsticks and an entire exhausted band later, they had run through everything.

"_Water_," the same person from before yelled (Gold, probably) again, impossibly louder and followed by more voices. Juniper laughed from the crows nest.

"One more run through and you'll get your water."

Black wanted to cry and thought it should probably illegal to be exposing all these kids to this kind of heat. He trudged back to his spot and didn't notice the concerned look Colress threw in his direction.

"Black, do you feel alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

The drum major watched him for a moment before shaking his head. "You seem a bit flushed."

He laughed it off. "I'm fine," he answered with a smile. The blonde man hummed and backed off.

The first half of the second run-through, he felt as fine as he had for the last two hours. His mind seemed to finally register though, sometime during the second part, that it was really hot out and that he was having trouble breathing and hey, maybe you should sit down.

He tried to reason with himself that they were almost done and then he would rest and catch his breath, but then his legs seemed to stop working too, so he ended up kind of just tripping onto his face.

"Shit," he choked out when the rim of his quads dug into his ribs after he did some sort of weird little somersault and stopped moving.

"Black?" He heard the concerned voices in the back of his conscious, but he was a bit too busy curling up on his side and trying to _breathe_. "Black!" The voices were louder, and he could faintly pick out Colress as the speaker, closer now. A hand settled on his shoulder, pulling him up just enough to get his drums off of his shoulders. "Black, what's going on?"

Apparently, he wasn't suffocating clearly enough. "...I can't...breathe," he gasped out and his vision went fuzzier than it already was.

"Get him upright," came the half-panicked half-authorative voice of his best friend. "Straighten his back-no,_ straighten_. He needs air to get to his lungs..."

He closed his eyes for a minute, trying to block out the noises and the hazy white sheen that was making his head hurt.

After a (long, long) moment, he opened them again upon feeling gentle hands against his shoulders.

"It's alright, Black," came a familiar voice as his upper body was shifted up against something much softer than the ground. When he tried to focus, all he could make out were blobs of green and white that he guessed made up the upperclassman saxophone player he was friends with.

"Get him down into the school!"

N nodded up at Juniper to acknowledge her. He bent further down over Black, close to his ear - to his credit, he only sounded remotely unhinged by what was going on. "I'm going to pick you up, alright? Don't freak out, please."

He would have freaked out, if that didn't entail expending so much energy that he didn't possess at the moment. Instead, he just curled up tighter and clung to N's neck once the older had heaved him up into his arms. "Hey," N muttered, more for the sake of just saying something. "It's okay, just breathe, okay?"

The brunette nodded, but it might have been lost in the steady bouncing of N's stride. He absently tightened his grip around N's neck, burying his face in his shoulder. The hand against his back rubbed soothing circles into his shirt and the arm holding up his legs tightened around him.

Black let his eyes slide closed again, focusing on N N N.

A few minutes later, the beating heat against his head slipped away, lapsing into a blessed coolness. The rhythmatic jerking came to a stop and then Black was being lowered onto the ground, back against a wall. He felt more than saw N settle next to him.

"Relax here for a minute," the other boy murmured, wrapping his arm around the younger's shoulders when he slumped over against him. "Are you feeling a little better now?"

Black gave a shaky nod of affirmation, his gasps for air calming.

N threaded his fingers through dark hair, brushing the chocolate bangs away from his forehead. Quietly, absently, the older boy hummed, lips soft and close to Black's temple.

"N," he breathed and shook his head when the green haired teen tried to shush him. "No, I...thank you..."

N huffed a soft laugh against his skin. "Don't be ridiculous, you don't have to thank me."

"You just," Black paused to take another shuddering gasp, "carried me here from the field."

The older was quiet, a contemplative look on his face as he watched Black. "It helps that you weigh about as much as a prepubescent girl." Dark eyes stared at him and Black wasn't sure if he should count that as a blow to his manly pride or not.

Airy puffs of unbidden laughter bubbled from his throat anyway, and the two were reduced to a ridiculous giggling heap moments later.

It _would_ be N who could make his near-death experience one of the funniest, sappiest things in the world.


End file.
